His Virgin Secretary
by Caelia22
Summary: kaioc kai is everything she dreamed of and is thrown into chaos when he demands she becomes his live in secretary! i don't own beyblade just my ocs
1. Chapter 1

**HIS VIRGIN SECRETARY**

Kai was coming,flying back from new york and Amethyst knew that there was no way she was going to be able to do her usual and disappear the minute he arrived.

Kai Hiwatari, put quite simply, terrified her. She had first met him eighteen months ago, when she had been subjected to an interview that had paid lip service to his opening words - that he just wanted to discover a bit about her, considering the role she would have in his grandfather's life. Thereafter had followed the most gruelling hour and a half she had ever endured, which had left her in no doubt that the only way she could possibly get along with him was to have as little to do with him as possible.

Since then, she had managed to turn evasion into an art form. His visits were fleeting, infrequent and pre-planned. Kai Hiwatari was not, she had long concluded comfortable with spontaneity. Impluse did not feature highly in a life that seemed to have been programmed right down to the last minute. It was something she was eternally grateful because it gave her ample opportunity to coincide her departures from the house with perfect timing, either just missing him or else seeing him on the hop.

Now however, there was to be no such easy avoidance.

Voltaire, his grandfather, had been rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack the afternoon before. It had all been a tremendous shock and as soon as things had quietened down she had telephoned his grandson to tell him what had happened. It spoke volumes that she had had to call nearly a dozen numbers before she had eventually been put through to him in his new york office and when she had finally had made contact, she'd been somewhat accused of taking her time getting in touch. no sooner had she stammered her way through her explanation he briskly informed her that he would be on his way back immediately and he would expect her to be at the housr when he arrived the following day. The click of the telephone being hung up on her had been a good reminder of why she so actively disliked the man.

The taxi swept up the driveway and she watched Kai closely as he paid the driver and then turned to look frowningly at the house. Two toned blue hair, dark crimson eyes. sensual mouth and a bone structure that seemed to have been carved with a loving hand and an eye with perfection. To Amethyst's mind, though, his scarily beautiful face was stamped with permanent coldness, his eyes were remote and detached and his mouth was cruelly forbidding.

The insisitent jabbing on the doorball sounded and Amethyst scuttled towards the front door to let him in. The minute she clapped eyes on him, she knew how she would feel.Awkward, unbearably plain and dowdy.

iIn fact, as she pulled open the door her eyes inadvertently slid away from the potently masculine figure towering in front of her and she cleared her throat nervously.

"come in Kai. it's...good to see you" she stood back so he could brush past her barely bothering to glance in her direction. "how was your trip over? okay?" Amethyst shut the door and leaned slightly againest it for support.

If there was one thing that irritated the hell out of Kai, it was to see someone cowering in front of him - and Amethyst Young was cowering. Her ebony black hair was effectively hiding her downturned face and her hands were pressed behind her as if prepared at any moment to yank the door open and bolt.

"we have to talk" he said flatly "and i do not intend to stand here to have the conversation, so why don't you unglue yourself off the door and get us both a drink?"

Voltaire sang her praises to high heaven and, for the life of him, Kai couldn't understand why. the girl hardly ever muttered a word. If she had a sparkling personality then she took great care to keep it hidden whenever he was around. He almost clicked his tongue in irritation as she slid past him towards the kitchen.

"so" he said as soon as they were in the kitchen, "tell me what happened. and leave nothing out" he sat down heavily on one of the kitchen chairs and watched as she stuck some water onto boil and fetched two mugs from the cupboard.

It felt perculiar to be her, without his grandfather around. Kai didn't like it. for all his highflying lifestyle, his apartments in paris, london and new york, this house represented the one constant thing in and life and his grandfather was a good part of it. the thought that he might be seriously ill that he imagined, that he might die, filled him with the chill of dread.

"when exactly did this thing happen?" "i told you, yesterday" Amethyst had no need to look at him to feel his eyes boring into her.

"and could you look at me when i'm talking to you? it's impossible to have a conversation to someone who insists on speaking to her mug of tea!" Amethyst obediently looked at him and immediately felt unsteady "he had just had his tea..." "what?" "i said Voltaire had just finished -"

"no, no, no" Kai waved her aside impatiently "i mean what did he have for tea? anything that could be seen to have brought on this... attack? are they quiet sure that it was a heart attack? and not something else? like food poisoning?"

"of course they're sure! they're doctors for heavens sake!"

"which is not to say that they're gods. everyones got faults" he sipped some of his tea and then restlessly began to loosen his tie so that he could undo the top two buttons of his shirt

Amethyst watched him with morbid fascination of someone watching something dangerous and unpredictable. Like a cobra snake.

"it wasn't food poisoning" she said remembering."he literally had some bread that i had made and a pot of tea. He was fine eating it but then said he felt a bit odd and he needed to lie down" "there must of been signs" Kai insisted shoving the mug to one side. "nothing. i would of told you if there had been anything that could of been a warning.."

"would you?"

"what do you mean?"

"i mean" he said standing up and prowling through the kitchen like a tiger "i haven't excatly been flooded with information from you on how my grandfather has been doing have i? in fact.." he paused and cocked his head to one side consideringly. "i've never recieved so much as a single piece of communication from you on the subject of voltaire! despite the fact i made it perfectly clear when you were employed that keeping me informed of my grandfather's well being was part and parcel of the deal!"

"that's not fair!" a sudden spurt of disbelieving anger made her cheeks redden at his accusation "i work for Voltaire and i don't .. think it's fair for you to expect me to go behind his back telling tales" she expected him to shout back but instead Kai grunted and resumed his prowling round the kitchen. More of this Amethyst thought and she might be joining Voltaire in the hospital with an attack of overstretched nerves.

"and what is the hospital like?" Kai demanded suddenly. "it's very good Kai. i went up there this morning and they wouldn't let me see him yet but i've been told his condition is stable"

"well thats something i suppose.how far from here is it?"

"about forty minutes depending on traffic"

"we'll leave here at four thirty then"

Amethyst nodded as Kai left the kitchen and sank back with relief at having some time on her own. Then she wondered if this was the right time to ask how long he planned on staying for. He was already heading for the stairs by the time she gathered her senses together and half ran after him.

"so" she said brightly keeping her distance as he reached down for the overnight bag. Not a very big bag she was reassured to see. "yes?" grey slate eyebrows went up as Kai registered her hovering presence. "you're... you're in the usual room. you know. top of the stairs, turen left, end of the corridor! i've.. i've put a towel out for you..." she stepped forward hesitantly "the thing is.."

"spit it out Amethyst!"

"well the thing is... i mean i was wondering .. well just how long you intend to stay, i mean" she rushed on as mild curiosity turned into a frown of growing disapproval "it would be really helpfull to me as to getting in food and such like" she could feel her face getting more and more flushed as he heard out her stammering speech in utter silence.

"you needn't go to any trouble for me" Kai informed her, turning away and heading up the stairs while Amethyst watched him with the dawning realisation that he had failed to answer the one question she desperately wanted answered.

With a spurt of uncustomary courage, she sprinted up the stairs in his wake and arrived slightly out of breath at his bedroom door just in time to see him dump the bag on the bed and dispose of his tie which he tossed on top of the bag. "well?" with a sigh of impatience he turned to her and began unbuttoning his shirt.

Amethyst kept her eyes fixed very firmly on his face and pointedley away from the toned torso that was being slowly revealed.

"it's just that.." she cleared her throat and looked down at her sandals "if you intend staying on.. you know, it would be helpful if you could let me know what you expect of me..." in the deadly silence that followed Amethyst realised what her words sounded like and went bright red.

"we'll talk about this later " Kai said firmly. He turned away from the shrinking figure and was only aware she had gone by the soft click of the door.

"Jimbo's got the car out of the garage" Amethyst rushed into speech as Kai shrugged on his jacket. It was may. Sunny but with a chill in the air that promised goose-pimples to anyone bold enough to walk around in just a t-shirt. Amethyst thought, with a certain amount of sourness, that Kai had got his dress code exactly right. Black trousers, navy shirt and black jacket that managed to look well worn yet incredibly fashionable and hideously expensive.

She felt the familiar rush of self-consciousness as she took in her own dress code, which was a baggy beige jumper, a grey stretch skirt reaching to her calves and her throughly un-cool black cord jacket. He always made her feel so horribly awkward. All year round she felt very comfortable in these clothes. They were functional, hard-wearing and successfully managed to hide a figure she felt self-concious about and was constantly reminded about whenever she was in his presence.

"Jimbo?" Kai paused to frown and Amethyst nodded.

"Jim parks, the man who looks after the garden and does odd jobs around the house. you've met him"

"i'll take your word for it" if he had, then he didn't remember.

"anyway the car's waiting outside. if you like, i'll drive" to her dismay he nodded. Amethyst was a good driver and used to driving Voltaire's car. She regularly went into town once a week on her afternoon off to shop and she drove Voltaire whereever he wanted, which admittedly wasn't to anywhere to far, but she had become used to the old gears.

None of that made her feel any the less nervous as she switched on the engine and started down the drive with Kai's intense crimson eyes watching her every move. It was like taking her driving test again, except worse. At least her driving instructor had been a kindly man in his fifties who had put her at ease, not a arrogant russian who wouldn't hesitate to launch a scathing attack on her ability if she happened to change gears a little too roughly.

She was releasing a long sigh of relief at the sight of the hospital in the distance when he threw her his bombshell. "i've been thinking about what you said to me about how long to stay and i think that Voltaire would be unhappy if he thought i was forcing myself to stay because i felt sorry for him"

Amethyst glanced at him then quickly back at the busy road. The fact he had actually thought about anything she had said was surprising enough without the additional bonus of knowing he had agreed with her on something.

"yes he really would" she breathed a little sigh of relief at what she knew was coming. His departure. "you have a flat in the town don't you?" "of course " Kai said irritably "gods sake park the damn car" Amethyst quickly inched the car forward into a spot that had just be vacated. "there" she said with satisfaction "done"

"i was telling you about my...dilemma...concerning work" Kai brought the subject back round to what he wanted sweeping over Amethyst's small victory so that she felt deflated.

"oh, yes. perhaps we could discuss it after we've been to see your grandfather?" she already could feel her spirit lifting at the thought of seeing Voltaire. She hoped that he would be able to see them now and perhaps even chat a little and she would much rather relish her anticipation in peaceful silence than be forced to respond to the man striding along beside her.

"we'll discuss it now, i think" Kai informed her crushingly. He pushed open the glass door and then stood aside to let her pass "i want to focus on voltaire when i see him, knowing i have sorted out this work situation to my satisfaction. in fact-" he glanced around "-there must be some kind of coffee shop or cafe here. I should of said what i need to say in fifteen minutes and then we can go see voltaire" Amethyst fought down the urge to salute. She also knew better than to express an alternative viewpoint so she suggested the cafe was further along the ground floor.

The coffee was fairly awful but they would be able to sit and anyway, it made sense for her to do what she had to do, nod when he told her he would be going down to the city so he could carry on working and agree it was the only logical solution. At least that way she too, would feel a weight lifted off her shoulders.

"what will you have?" Kai asked, not looking at her as he assumed his place in the short queue, his hand squarely placed on top of one of the brown trays. Somehow direct questions from Kai always managed to encourage a stammer that Amethyst possessed with no-one else. Of course, when she thought about it, she could understand why. Even when he was being perfectly normal, if such a thing could occur with him, there was still a latent aggression to him that brought out the worst in her.

"hello?" she heard him saying now, finally turning to look at her so for an instant their eyes tangled and a slow, hot burn started inside her. "is there anyone there? or have you decided to vanish into the clouds completely?" "sorry" Amethyst said blinking and looking away "i'll have a coffee"

"anything to eat?"

"no. Thank you. Thanks"

Kai frowned and his eyes did a sweep over of her, finally coming to rest on her flushed face. "you look like a bag of bones under that outfit of yours"

In one fell swoop, he managed to make her cringingly aware of her body and it's shortcomings. Ever since she was fourteen and had watched on the sidelines as her friends developed hips, breasts and all the things that the boys seem to go towards, Amethyst had nursed unspoken feeling that her slightness, her small breasts, her boyish shape, were to be concealed at all costs. Baggy, all-enveloping clothes had become her preferred mode of dress, even though her parents had told her repeatedly that she was beautiful. She had always known better than to believe them. Her parents adored her. They would of found her beautiful if she had three heads and a tail.

"you need to build yourself up"

"into what? a wrestler?" Amethyst said with spurt of vigour and this time he looked at her with something approaching interest, his slated eyebrows raised in apparent fascination at her sudden forceful tone of voice.

"i really don't know, now that you mention it, considering you keep your body so cleverly concealed, under clothing a granny would be proud of" Kai answered smoothly, but her sarcasm had captured his attention and suddenly the plans he had made regarding work didn't seem quite so depressing after all.

"now, we'll have our coffee and i'll tell you exactly what i've decided on the work front. why don't you grab a table - cleanish one if there is - and i'll join you once i've paid for this lot?"

He absentmindedly watched as Amethyst scuttled across the cafe to one of the tables at the back but his thoughts were already moving ahead.He couldn't see that she would object in any way to what he had in mind and quite frankly, had no choice in the matter anyway.

However his problems didn't begin and end with work. Isobel Smith, the woman he was currently attached too, might have been a model of understanding when it came to his frequent trips abroad, but he doubted she would be quite so compliant when it came to him holed up in the countrydie a good hour and a half away from her, yet in the same country.

She had been dropping hints about him settling down in one place for good, spicing up her conversation with all too transparent musings about the nature of relationships and the speed with which time rushed past.

Kai knew he should of been firmer in squashing some of her blatent chat about commitment and body clocks but somehow he never seems to get around it it and he'd allowed the situation to slide.

Maybe he thought now Voltaire's illness was fate telling him that the time to settle down had arrived, and as he distractedly paid the gitl at the till for the two coffees and the tired chelsea bun he had brought himself, he wondered if Isobel might just be the sort of wife he was looking for.

He glanced across at Amethyst who was brushing a few crumbs from the surface of the table with her hand and decided he would deal with one thing at a time.

Work frst, girlfriend later and both in second position to the all-consuming need to make sure his grandfather was going to be alright.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Right" Kai sat down, brillant crimson eyes sweeping over the grubby table with such unconcealed distaste that Amethyst was forced to remind him that a hospital canteen wasn't going to be along the lines of a five star restaurant.

"i did try to clear most of the crumbs" she finished apologetically, which earned her a frown. "why are you apologising for the state of this place?" Kai demanded impatiently "nobody, least of all me, expects a hospital cafe to be run like a five star restaurant, but this table looks as through its ambition is to collect several months of grime before someone gets around to wiping it with a damp cloth"

Amethyst wondered how his employees coped with his obviously impossible high standards. did he pour that undiluted, freezing scorn over anyone who just happened to make the smallest slip up? she shuddered and gulped down a mouthful of coffee

"you were going to tell me what... what you've decided to do? about work?" Amethyst prompted

"well i won't be returning to new york, at least not until Voltaire is back on his feet. The obvious solution is for me to set up an office at the house and work from there "

"house? what house?" Amethyst wondered if she was listening alright.

"what house do you think?" Kai's voice was exaggeratedly patient, the tone of someone who has to slow down the natural pace of his mind to accommodate the sluggishness of someone else's.

"you're going to work from Voltaire's house?" Amethyst sqeaked. Her stomach seemed to be doing a frantic tap dance inside her. Thank god she was sitting down or she might over keeled over at the horrifying prospect now unfolding before her eyes. "correct, now drink up. We can't spend all day in here discussing this"

Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked at him and she had already decided if that was the case, then she could quite easily avoid him. It was a big house. With a bit of forward planning she need never run into him, and on the few occasions when avoidance was out of the question she would just take a deep breath and cope with the temporary discomfort.

But an indefinite stay?

"furthermore-" Kai flicked his wrist so he could glance at his watch "-you'll be working for me. It's not ideal. I would of preferred someone with a bit more experience in dealing with the business world but you're available and you'll have to do. I can't very well ask my own secretary to uproot herself and move up here to accommodate me. Not when she has a husband and two children to consider" the implication being that, were it not for those emotional anchors, he would have had no hesitation at all in uprooting her.

"theres really no need to look so stricken, Amethyst. I don't bite" he stood up and she realised as far as he was concerned, the conversation was over. He had informed her of what he intended to do and her duty was to keep quiet and oblige.

And as she tripped along behind him, watching blankly as he charmed the nurses on duty and headed down the corridor for Voltaire's room, all she could think of what the nightmare prospect of what he had just proposed.

She would have to have it out with him, she thought feverishly. In a ideal world, she would not have to communicate with him at all, but she would just have to bite the bullet and confront him with the impossibility of his suggestion. Not that it was being coached as such.

It hardly helped that after a few minutes during which she held Voltaire's hand while Kai toyed with something approaching a bedside manner, the subject of her new role was foisted onto her clearly still weak employer. "i really don't think that this is the time..." Amethyst initiated a hesitant protest and Kai quelled her with a glare.

"i am simply reassuring my grandfather that he can count on my being around for the foreseeable future"

"you mustn't interrupt your work schedule" Voltaire predictably objected, then, to her dismay he continued wanly, "though, of course Amethyst could do with someone around..." Amethyst tried not to splutter at this "i do not need looking after, Voltaire" She managed to say with a lot of self control and keeping her eyes very pointedly averted from Kai's intense, unsettling gaze. "i'm nearly twenty-four! i think it's fair to say i'm perfectly capable of looking after myself, and of making sure the house doesn't fall down around my ears! besides" she said encouragingly, giving his hand a little squeeze "you'll be home sooner than you think"

"is that what the doctors say?"

"well no, not exactly, but then we haven't actually spoken to any doctors as yet-"

"typically, there's never a doctor around when you need one" Kai interrupted scowling darkly. "apparently he won't be surfacing for another hour and i've given the nurse strict instructions that he's to see me before he begins his rounds" Voltaire met Amethyst's eyes in a moment of mutual understanding. She wondered whether it had even occured to Kai that a busy doctor might not appreciate being summoned by a relative of one of his patients, and then decided it probably hadn't. "are you with us?" Kai cut in to her thoughts and Amethyst sat up a little straighter "i was just thinking..."

"well, we'd better be heading off. Voltaire needs his rest" they both looked at the old man who eyes had drooped. "he looks so frail" Amethyst whispered in sudden anguish. She turned implusively to Kai only to collide with cold crimson eyes. "what did you expect?" was her only answer.

Amethyst didn't reply and left the room going up to one of the nurses at the desk and politely asked whether they could be notified of the consultants arrival when he appeared so they could have a quick word "his grandson is very worried" she murmured in a low voice while Kai breathed down her neck in a very off-putting way.

"his grandson is understandably anxious to have a few answers" Kai interjected with a show of perfect politeness, and Amethyst wondered how he managed to sound so threatening when he was delivering, for him, quite an inoffensive remark. She had no need to look at him. She could quite easily imagine the unsmiling expression on his face all too clearly. The nurse must of picked up on these signals as well because the bland, bordering expression he'd worn had been replaced by a nervous nodding of the head.

"if i kept people waiting all day long" He muttered as soon as they sat down on the functional chairs further along the corridor "i would no longer be in business" Amethyst discreetly held her tongue as there was no point in antagonising him. "and let me do the talking" He grated "tiptoeing aroung the man isn't going to get the answers i need!"

Amethyst sneeked a sidelong glance at him and knew with blinding certainty, that Kai was worried, desperatley worried, and the only way to deal with it was to become even more aggressive and forceful than he normally was. Her heart went out to him and on impluse she placed her small hand on his wrist only to find him stare at it with such concentrated distaste that she immediately removed it.

"oh, spare me the compassion, Amethyst" "do you ever let your guard down Kai?" She heard herself asking and immediately realised she had overstepped the boundary. Personal questions like that were not encouraged by a man like him. Even Voltaire shied away from indulging his curiosity about his grandson's life, only letting slip now and again to her questions that clearly nagged away at him. "sorry" She apologised at once "none of my business. we're both worried."

She waited for him to fill the brief pause, which he didn't and Amethyst released a little sigh. She thought that he had relegated her remark to oblivion and was surprised when he said in a low, musing voice "Voltaire has never been ill. Not with anything serious anyway. It's odd but you never imagine that the people you care about are ever vulnerable; You foolishly imagine that they're going to somehow live for ever"

Amethyst discovered she was sitting on the edge of her chair and holding her breath. She felt a flood of sympathy at his unexpected admission but knew better than to express it. His moment of weakness would pass and then he would look back and resent her for having witnessed in the first place.

"i wondered" She volunteered hesitantly "if we could discuss this work thing Kai..." Kai inclined his body slightly so he was looking at her, eyes narrowed. It took all the will power at her disposal not to look away and thereby earn his irritation. Hadn't he already snapped at her that he found it impossible to conduct a conversation with someone who couldn't meet his eyes? How was he supposed to know that one glance in her direction was sufficient to reduce her into a state of panic?

"what's there to talk about?" He asked in a reasonable voice "i...i really haven't got the right qualifications to work for you" Amethyst stuttered "i mean i've never worked for as a professional secretary or anything..." "but then, what would you do all day long?" Kai looked at her narrowly "you _are _being paid after all, and with Voltaire in the hospital there would be nothing for you to do, would there? instead of jumping to the conclusion you would never be able to work for me, you should think of it as a challenge to fill in the long hours in an empty house"

A _challenge?_ shouldn't a challenge be something that someone looked forward to? who ever looked at something they were horrified at doing and saw it as a _challenge_? did this man inhabit the same planet as the rest of the human race?

Before she could contemplate what he had said and return with something adequate, however, the consultant arried and the next half hour was spent with her listening while Kai took over the reins of the conversation. He asked questions that she would never of dreamed of with a bluntness that she was personally mortified by but the doctor seemed to appreciate, judging from the hearty, imformative depths of his replies.

The upshot was that there was no reason why Voltaire shouldn't make a full recovery. He should even be encouraged to do a bit of light exercise and would go home within a couple of weeks or so. As a mark of how much Kai had impressed him, he even scribbled his home number on a piece of paper and told them both that they could reach him any time of they had any more questions or were worried about anything.

"exercise" Kai murmured half to himself as they headed out of the hospital towards the car. "Voltaire's form of exercise is light walks in the garden am i right?" "He's no spring chicken Kai" Amethyst said and then, unable to resist a little dig, she added straight faced "what would you expect him to do? cartwheels around the flower beds?"

She was startled and irrationally pleased by the sudden burst of laughter that greeted this piece of tart sarcasm and it was only when they were back in the car proceeding carefully out of the city that Amethyst remembered the unfinished conversation about work. Or rather unfinished from her point of view.

Kai had obviously decided that the subject matter was now closed and was now thoughtfully ruminating on the challenges posed by the doctor in connection with the light exercise from which his grandfather might benefit.

Amethyst took a deep breath and then burst out "but how can you run- is it a empire that you run?- from a house? i mean, don't you need to be there, on standby, just in case..." her voice trailed off as she tried to word it "...just in case something happens?" "something like what?" Kai asked curiously "i don't know exactly.."Amethyst said vaguely "some catastrophe or something"

"you mean like the building falling down?"

Amethyst read the amusement in his voice as a subversive attack on her obvious ignorance of corporate finance and the money-making business in which she had never had much interest. "i mean" she stressed bravely "don't you need to actually be there so if people have problems they can have... well access to you? face to face?"

"oh no" Kai drawled smoothly "technology these days is actually quite sophisticated..." "it's not my fault i've never been computer literate" Amethyst muttered in defense "of course, we did have it lessons at school but i was never really interested. I've always thought computers were so impersonal" she peered thoughtfully out of the window straight ahead as she edged the car through the city traffic at snails pace.

"impersonal they may be, but they're also invaluable"

"huh?"

she sensed him take a deep breath of pure impatience.

"computers" Kai reminded her heavily "we were talking about computers. Or rather you were. You were telling me that you were never interested in them at school?"

"oh yes. sorry"

"you have an unfortunate habit of apologising for everything" Kai remarked in the same heavy voice that made Amethyst think of teachers losing their patience in the face of some dim student."you'll have to lose that when you start working for me. It's annoying"

"but what about when i make mistakes?" Amethyst asked worriedly.

"there you go again. Assuming a worst-case scenario before we've begun. What am i doing? branching out on a completely irrelevant tangent!"

"but don't you find that happens?" Amethyst couldn't help saying.

"computers? they allow me to work from pretty much anywhere. I can have my secretary email me my correspondence and i can access all the files i need at the press of a button. How do you imagine i continue running my london branch when i'm in new york? and vice versa?"

"i can't!" Amethyst told him truthfully. They had finally managed to clear the bulk of the traffic and she relaxed as the roads became a little clearer. "in fact i can't imagine what you do at all. it must be very stressful"

"i thrive under pressure"

"oh" Amethyst murmured dubiously.

"at any rate, what i'm saying is that Voltaire's office will do just fine in the short term. I'll probably spend a day or so in town-" he paused "just in case i need to ward off any of those mysterious catastrophes you mentioned, but the rest of the week i'll spend here. i already have my laptop with me, as a matter of fact so i should have no problem transferring files to Voltaires computer, and whatever clothes i have here will do for the time being"

With the last of her limp objections throughly demolished, Amethyst slumped behind the driving wheel and dejectedly contemplated life for the next fortnight. He had already started his list of personality traits she would have to change so he could put up with her and she was in no doubt that the list would grow until something resembling his specifications had been achieved.

She surfaced to hear him talking and realised he was once on the topic of light exercise and, at the mention of swimming, she glanced briefly in his direction. Just the sight of his frowning, averted profile sent a shiver of awareness rippling through her. One more thing to contend with she acknowleged dismally. He couldn't help the way he looked but that unique gorgeous face with unusual vivid blue triangles still managed to elicit a throughly uncharacteristically feminine response in her, even though she disliked him. She hoped againest hope that a bout of close encounters would eliminate the unwanted reaction.

"Voltaire doesn't like swimming" she told him now "he once told me that if humans were made to flap about in water, they would of been born with gills. He doesn't find it a very soothing form of exercise"

"i'm not suggesting that he swims across the channel" Kai said "but swimming is a gentle exercise and you heard what the doctor said"

"yes but...the pool is in a state of total disrepair"

"because it's never used"

"i'm surprised you don't use it when you come to visit" Amethyst reflected, thinking that, with his surperb build, he would of wanted to fling himself into any kind of exercise available whenever he could. thinking, too how good he would look in swimming trunks... she dragged her mind away from the rapidly growing image with a twinge of guilt.

"it's too uncomfortable in there. It's also in dire need of renovation. It was pretty decrepit when Voltaire moved in all those years ago and it's just got worse" he paused "it would certainly benefit from a face-lift. I mean, thinking about it, it has all the essential requirements. It's indoors, even if you do have to exit the house to get there, and with a bit a work it would be okay. I could get some form of heating installed, have a couple of changing rooms put in, bring someone in to repair the cracks everywhere..."

"it needs more than a facelift" Amethyst pointed out "Kai, there are weeds growing out of the cracks at the bottom! in fact the last time Voltaire looked at it he suggested that with the addition of a bit of soil we could convert the whole thing into a greenhouse!"

"did he really say that?"

Amethyst nodded, glanced at him and in the diminishing light saw him grin with genuine amusement. For a second or two her heart seemed to literally stop beating before she quickly focused back on the road again. Of course he wasn't responding to her she told herself sternly. She evoked that icy crimson-eyed impatience, but still... it was like seeing through a bank of thunderclouds to a ray of sun.

Then he was back to his usual self, the one she was accustomed to. Back to the man giving orders without bothering to tack a please at the end or even display the slightest sign of appreciation.

"well, we'll have to do something about changing his opinion, and that can be your first job in the morning. i'll head down to the city to get whatever i need so you'll have the day completely frr to contact people you need to get that concrete hole up and running"

"up and running? how long do you imagine it's going to take to do that?"

"throw enough money at them and they'll take as long as i want to take" Kai assured her.

"i've never had someone working for me before" Amethyst said doubtfully

"so now you are provided with another challenge! and on the subject of the pool, i think we also need to buy some furniture for around it"

"what sort of furniture?"

"chairs. Comfortable ones. Chairs that Voltaire can relax on when he's had a little bit of light exercise. I'll leave the choice up to you. And don't breathe a word of this to him. It'll be a surprise"

"do you think his heart can stand it?"

"are you being serious?"

"no" Amethyst admitted "but once he's seen it, it might be an idea if we let him grow gradually into the concept of actually getting into it"

They were finally approaching the house, which stood a way backfrom the road up a long winding drive lined with trees. In a couple of months the budding leaves would be thick and green and would almost obscure the red-brick house sprawling at the end of the drive. For the moment though, there was just the merest hint of summer floating in the evening air, and as always Amethyst's heart revived at the sight of the old house shimmering into view. It also revived on the blessed thought that she managed to drive into the city centre and out again with Kai as a passenger, without making a fool of herself. The least he could of done was thank her for taking him but naturally that would of been asking too much. He had launched into a succinct and off-putting summary of her forthcoming duties, next to which cajoling a workfore to accomplish the near impossible in his absence seemed like a bed of roses.

He strode into the house, switching on lights and briefing her on his expectations. He would be working from the house fron the day after tommorrow, he announced, and she should be ready to kick off no later that eight-thirty. He himself would be up and running by seven but, naturally he would not expect her to conform so ridgidly to his timetable. Breakfast he would see to himself and she could do her own thing for lunch, although he would expect her to eat on the run if it was a particulary heavy workload. He assumed she would see to their dinner requirements. Her working day would be expected to end by five-thirty.

Amethyst almost laughed out loud when he concluded his speech and politely asked if she had any questions. She shook her head numbly and he gave her a nod.

"good. In that case, i shall be in the office setting things up. Don't bother to wait for me for dinner, I'll grab something later"

Amethyst nodded again, deprived of speech, and felt tremendous sympathy for his poor secretary.

Thank goodness Voltaire would be back soon and things could get back to normal.

* * *

i will update soon i will not ask you to review because if you want to you can. tc carrielouise xoxoxox 


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